Story

Across Canada, sport thrives thanks to the efforts of people such as Pat Ramage. Her volunteer efforts with Canadian alpine skiers began in the late 1940s. Over the next 30 years, Ramage undertook a variety of roles in the skiing community, from event organizing and management, to advising on technical matters, to chairing finance and fund raising committees. She was the assistant manager of the Canadian team at the 1950 world championships and manager of the teams at the 1954 and 1958 world championships. In 1961, Ramage became the first-ever Canadian elected to the International Ski Federation (FIS) Committee. Three years later, for the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics, she became the first person selected to represent Canada as an Olympic jury member. This was not Ramage's first experience supporting the Olympic aspirations of Canada's athletes. In 1956, at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, she had been the manager of Canada's ski teams and at the 1968 Games in Grenoble, France, she managed all the Canadian teams, not just the alpine skiers. She also participated in Canadian delegations to Commonwealth, Pan-American, and Maccabiah Games. Ramage's service to the Canadian ski community reached its zenith when, from 1962 to 1972, she served as the CSA's director to the Canadian Olympic Association. Her career within Canadian skiing was complete in 1976 when the Canadian Ski Association named her the first honourary Life Member of the Association. In 1977, at the end of a long career of service to skiing, Ramage took on a new challenge. She was approached by the Canadian member of the Union of Modern Pentathlon and Biathlon, the sports' international governing body. She worked tirelessly to develop the sports in Canada, organizing national championships and arranging for athletes to compete at world championships. From 1978 to 1983, Ramage was the Honourary Treasurer of Canadian Modern Pentathlon and, from 1981 to 1983, the chair of Biathlon Canada. Ramage was honoured for all her efforts with the Sports Federation of Canada's Volunteer Administrator of the Year award in 1983, and, in 1989, she was made a member of the Order of Canada. She has also been inducted into the Canadian Ski and Canadian Olympic Halls of Fame. Today, the Canadian Ski and Snowsports Association presents the Patricia Ramage Award to recognize a volunteer for outstanding contributions to snow sports.